You Got Fiber, but No Cupcakes or Unicorns

More excited residential, SOHO and SMB customers can text, message, call and talk over hedgerows and fences about the imminent arrival or newly deployed fiber in their town, how it will change their lives and vastly improve their business or work habits.

For the most part, they're right. Add the expected benefits of 5G, which is already in trial among a growing number of providers in various parts of the world, and anticipation reaches another level of fervor. Each

But as service providers are all too well aware, managing customers' expectations to ensure they don't expect life to suddenly be full of cupcakes and unicorns is challenging -- especially when everyone from the local TV news and newspapers to national TV, glossy magazines and the one third of the Internet not devoted to Trump dedicate much of their time to 5G.

During a webinar tomorrow, "Managing Expectations When Fiber Comes to Town," industry executives will share insights into consumers' fiber expectations, concepts and misconceptions, as well as how providers can manage consumer expectations when they deploy fiber or new services. Industry leaders will discuss how to manage marketing and consumer expectations in every stage of the network lifecycle -- a critical skill for marketing professionals, c-level executives and policymakers who are tasked with driving up fiber sales.

Topics will include fiber reliability; managing scheduled and unscheduled outages; handling new-service deployment, education and integration; forcing disconnects as copper-based services end; benefits, challenges and disadvantages of building a reputation of superior customer service; and more.

Bring your questions and comments so you can join the conversation. This is designed to be a lively webinar, with lots of interaction between all participants and the audience of marketing professionals, c-level executives and policymakers interested in drumming up fiber envy among their prospects.

Deutsche Telekom just signed an infrastructure project with the Gigabit Region Stuttgart, home to 174 municipalities and almost 3 million people, one of many partnerships the German operator has inked in its bid to grow revenue and business.

Mobile and cable operators represented half the managed SD-WAN services market share in this fast-growing space, while other broadband providers such as ISPs and satellite operators also appeared on Vertical Systems Group's ranking.

By slashing subscriber pricing by more than $30 billion annually, Low Earth Orbit satellite companies led by Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk as well as OneWeb have the potential to usher in a whole new era of broadband.

In this insightful Light Reading radio show, Kurt Raaflaub, Head of Strategic Solutions Marketing, will outline the key service provider challenges, deployment considerations, next-gen Gigabit technologies, and service models to win market share in the rapidly growing MDU market.

The MDU market continues to face fierce competition among service providers due to tech-savvy residents (i.e., millennials), demand from building owners and management companies, plus the favorable economics of bulk contracts. However, no MDUs are the same, so service providers must use multiple technologies and inconsistent deployment models, increasing operational complexity and rollout costs.

The MDU market itself is evolving as residents adopt smart-home technologies, generating rising demand for smart apartments with built-in connected thermostats, keyless entryways and doors, and video doorbells. This evolution presents both new challenges and opportunities. In other words, service providers must consider innovative service-delivery strategies to compete and win.

In this Broadband World News and ADTRAN webinar, Kurt Raaflaub, Head of Strategic Solutions Marketing, will highlight emerging MDU broadband Internet trends and challenges. In addition, Kurt will outline the next-generation service creation and delivery platform, built on open standards, that allows service providers to connect millions of underserved MDUs, enables creation of user-driven services, and reduces operational complexity and costs.

Plus, special guest, Alice Lawson, Broadband and Cable Program Manager for the City of Seattle, will discuss Seattle’s B4B-Build For Broadband initiative that addresses best practices in planning for MDU telecommunication infrastructure.